For any fans who had concerns over the Dallas Cowboys backup situation in 2021, they’re about to get a glimpse of what that life could be like. After a week’s worth of training camp practices, the Cowboys have lost their starting quarterback Dak Prescott to a shoulder injury, per multiple reports.
As first reported by the Dallas Morning News, Prescott suffered a muscle strain that kept him out of the majority of Wednesday’s practice, the team’s first in pads of the new season. After having an MRI, it’s been concluded the team will take things slow, though they continue to insist it’s not a serious injury.
Dak Prescott could miss a few weeks with shoulder injury — raising concerns for Cowboys’ backup QBs https://t.co/cSzhVSjHKu
— David Moore (@DavidMooreDMN) July 29, 2021
Raw video of Dak Prescott nursing his sore shoulder during today’s practice.
He would leave practice early, and receive an MRI that revealed a strained muscle in his shoulder. pic.twitter.com/6xvyRF0mwO
— Mike Leslie (@MikeLeslieWFAA) July 29, 2021
Dak Prescott: “Just a little shoulder soreness and tightness. I felt it a little bit yesterday. … Everything is fine.”
(Video: @JoeTrahan)pic.twitter.com/9TxMqMqPkK
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) July 29, 2021
Prescott is expected to miss the next two weeks which will keep him out of the team’s first exhibition game, next Thursday against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the Hall of Fame induction weekend. He likely could miss the second week, a road exhibition against he Arizona Cardinals. Dallas will then return to Texas to complete their preparation for the regular season, with two more preseason tilts against Houston and Jacksonville.
Prescott missed the majority of 2020 with an ankle injury that required surgery. Although the club wasn’t playing near their ability through those first five weeks, their offense fell off a cliff without him when Andy Dalton, Garrett Gilbert and Ben DiNucci started in his place. Dalton has since signed with Chicago leaving Gilber and DiNucci, along with Cooper Rush, as Prescott’s backups.
This is a major concern for plenty of fans and now the offense will work for two weeks without their field general. Dallas is currently without both WR Amari Cooper and DE DeMarcus Lawrence, recovering from offseason surgeries. Both are expected to begin practicing when the club returns to Dallas.
The offense still has plenty of weapons at their disposal, including Ezekiel Elliott, CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup and the dual-TE threats of Dalton Schultz and Blake Jarwin. They are more than enough to give the club a true evaluation of both backups to know whether or not the team needs to pursue a more veteran solution to protect in case Prescott misses any time during the regular season.
It’s a very thin heard that is headlined by names such as Robert Griffin III, Brent Hundley and Ryan Finley.
